While FIU doesn’t exactly fall in line with the stereotypical American college experience as a university known for its Homecoming celebrations, the event is a big deal nonetheless and still impacts the school and its students.
Homecoming is a time for students and past students to come together and celebrate their Panther pride. While a fun week of rallies, concerts, parades and more are split between BBC and MMC, this raises the question of why, if we are meant to be one university, the two campuses are treated as separate entities with separate events that students have to choose from.
While we shouldn’t necessarily ignore or forget about BBC, merging all Homecoming events to the MMC campus would make sense logistically. Not only is it the bigger campus of the two, but it’s the main campus that would naturally allow for big events. There’s also more spirit, decoration and higher attendance as most students attend MMC.
There’s also a more emotionally compelling argument for the events to be hosted at MMC rather than shuffling them between the two campuses.
FIU boasts upwards of 56,000 students, but as a commuter school, it isn’t necessarily the most well-known for its sense of community. While achieving this is admittedly possible without a series of Homecoming events, Homecoming week does physically bring students together, if for no other reason than the prospect of free food and t-shirts.
If people want to party and have a good time, they will go out of their way to do so. Everybody needs a moment in life to just relax and enjoy themselves, and Homecoming is that time. Hosting all the events at MMC will help cultivate that bigger and better Panther Pride the University wants.
Making a designated space where we all can come together as students to celebrate just that – being students and the little joys that come with this part of our lives – would highlight FIU’s Homecoming activities and not only group us together in the same room, but create friendships and even potential networking opportunities.
Homecoming is essentially another excuse to get to know the people around you and have a good time, and this undoubtedly would be better facilitated by holding all events on the same campus as a home base.
Photo courtesy of Fabienne Fleurantin.
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